The astonishing success of J.K. Rowling and other contemporary children's authors has demonstrated how passionately children can commit to the books they love. But this kind of devotion is not new. This timely volume takes up the challenge of assessing the complex interplay of forces that have created the popularity of children's books both today and in the past. The essays collected here ask about the meanings and values that have been ascribed to the term 'popular'. They consider whether popularity can be imposed, or if it must always emerge from children's preferences. And they investigate how the Harry Potter phenomenon fits into a repeated cycle of success and decline within the publishing industry. Whether examining eighteenth-century chapbooks, fairy tales, science schoolbooks, Victorian adventures, waif novels or school stories, these essays show how historical and publishing contexts are vital in determining which books will succeed and which will fail, which bestsellers will endure and which will fade quickly into obscurity. As they considering the fiction of Angela Brazil, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and J.K. Rowling, the contributors carefully analyse how authorial talent and cultural contexts combine, in often unpredictable ways, to generate - and sometimes even sustain - literary success.
Biography
Julia Briggs was, until her death in 2007, Professor of English Literature at De Montfort University, UK. She was the author of many books, including Night Visitors: The Rise and Fall of the English Ghost Story (1977), This Stage-Play World: English Literature and Its Background, 1580-1625 (1983), A Woman of Passion: The Life of E. Nesbit (1987) and Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life (2005). Dennis Butts taught children's literature at Reading University, UK. He has written widely about children's books, and edited many scholarly editions and critical studies including Stories and Society: Children's Literature in its Social Context (1992) and From the Dairyman's Daughter to Worrals of the WAAF: The Religious Tract Society (2006). M.O. Grenby is Reader in Children's Literature in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at Newcastle University, UK. He has published extensively on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century cultural history and on children's literature. His books include The Anti-Jacobin Novel: British Conservatism and the French Revolution (2001) and the Edinburgh Critical Guide to Children's Literature (2008).
'Popular children's literature has shaped our culture for around 400 years, and this book - scholarly, accessible, and wide-ranging - does full justice to a vitally important and yet curiously elusive literary form. Written by world-class specialists, it could well become the standard work'. Peter Hunt, Cardiff University, UK ’... cogent, helpful general introduction...A wide-ranging, richly informative treatment that does not limit or restrict the concept of ’popularity’ in children’s literature...Recommended.’ Choice ’Historians of children's literature will welcome this book of essays, which reflects an expanded purview of scholars inside the discipline who look beyond the traditional boundaries of children's literature and suggests why scholars outside the discipline are beginning to find children's literature a rewarding primary source for social history.’ Sharp News ’This book fulfils the expectations its range of distinguished contributors raises. It provides a lively and scholarly historical study that spans British children's literature from its beginning to Harry Potter, and is informative, challenging, and most enjoyable to read. ... the book amply rewards the careful reader with a greater breadth of analysis than popular children's literature in Britain has yet enjoyed.’ The Library ’... a fascinating addition to the study of popular children's fiction. It is entertaining, scholarly, and enlightening, and to be commended.’ Children's Books History Society ’Ashgate have carved out an interesting niche for themselves in this specialized area and readers may wish to explore their online catalogue for items on early childhood, women and education, Oscar Wilde and Rudyard Kipling. The book under review is destined for the academic library and for the scholarly shelf - there are specialists enough around the world. But above all, it is aimed at anyone who wants a good working list of critical and bibliographical works on early
